Opening holiday cottage post Covid

tombrown

I live in Clare, but I have a house in Donegal that we have been letting for holiday rentals this year. Obviously it has been closed & empty since March, but my read of the government roadmap is that we can open in Phase 4 (July 20th). As it happens I have a booking that week, and every week until mid September.


I really need to travel up to the house, ahead of 20th July, to open it up, get it cleaned and regain control of the garden. I assume that would be reasonable, but how do I go about getting permission to do that, to ensure I don't get turned around by the Garda on the way up? If I just explain what I am doing at each checkpoint I am worried it will be down to the individual judgment of the Garda who stops me, and that is a bit of a gamble.


I did ask this in the general Relaxation of Restrictions thread, but it is a bear pit in there

newuser99999

tombrown wrote: »

I live in Clare, but I have a house in Donegal that we have been letting for holiday rentals this year. Obviously it has been closed & empty since March, but my read of the government roadmap is that we can open in Phase 4 (July 20th). As it happens I have a booking that week, and every week until mid September.


I really need to travel up to the house, ahead of 20th July, to open it up, get it cleaned and regain control of the garden. I assume that would be reasonable, but how do I go about getting permission to do that, to ensure I don't get turned around by the Garda on the way up? If I just explain what I am doing at each checkpoint I am worried it will be down to the individual judgment of the Garda who stops me, and that is a bit of a gamble.


I did ask this in the general Relaxation of Restrictions thread, but it is a bear pit in there

That’s really not necessary

jlm29

It might be easier to find someone local in Donegal who could do that for a small sum? It would probably cost only a small bit more than you will spend on fuel etc

Irishphotodesk

Do you have some sort of setup to deep clean in between customers ?

Have you verified with your customers that they are able to use your rental ?
- it's possible some may not be permitted to travel to a holiday location.
- some may have changed their mind (due to the nature of the virus they may not be comfortable staying in a property that has been visited by multiple unknown people)

I honestly don't know the rules of what is permitted or not at this time but if your business is reopening, I would assume you are permitted to travel to prepare it for use.

tombrown

I do have someone who normally does the cleaning, but being as the place has been empty since March it needs a whole load more than just the regular clean, and I really think I need to oversee that. Is it not reasonable that business owners are allowed to prepare their business for opening ahead of the opening date?

Obviously if it is not allowed, I wont go, and maybe have to cancel the first guest, which I'd prefer not to. I wonder can I get a definitive direction from somewhere? Is there some sort of helpline I can call?

TigerBuild

@tombrown You could request a letter from the Gardai for the purpose of this trip. I have heard of people doing similar for important business trips. It will be at the discretion of the Garda really. But at least if you do get it, you have peace of mind driving to Donegal.

trihead

Open to correction but I am pretty sure property maintenance is on the list of things you can travel for. It was since the early lockdown.

sea swimmer

Any idea what the intervals between rentals should be? Three days? Virus lives for 72 hours on metal and plastic.

Caranica

sea swimmer wrote: »

Any idea what the intervals between rentals should be? Three days? Virus lives for 72 hours on metal and plastic.

A deep clean should sort that?

Edgware

I imagine that you would be facing a deep clean between each letting. A lot of people will want a self catering rental though so if you are in a good holiday location you will get tenants. Its the way the market is going. Reluctance to travel abroad, hotels opened but limited access to the leisure area etc will leave self catering as the best option.